Animal Diseases
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29
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Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South

It is not as big a concern that an animal had it here last year. A number of animals displaying antibodies now, showing they had it last year, gives us the concern that midges in that area were infected with it last year. These midges are lying dormant at present. Will some of them still have the disease when the temperature goes back up to spread it? That is the real concern. This disease is not passed from animal to animal. It is passed through a midge landing and biting an infected animal and then biting another animal. That is how it is spreading across Europe and beyond.
It is fair to say that the response in January is very different from what our response would be if we were in July. The fact is that an animal is only infectious for 60 days, so an animal testing positive now will not cause the disease to spread through a midge landing on it because by the time the temperature gets warmer, the animal will no longer be infectious.
In terms of the vaccine, we changed our approach. Our approach was always to identify it and move in quickly. If we vaccinate, we mask the disease because we cannot tell the difference between a positive test result and a vaccinated animal. Late last year, when the disease appeared in Northern Ireland, I approved vaccines for this year. That was a commercial decision. I ask people to engage with their veterinary practitioners to see whether vaccines are suitable for them.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29